


Crashing into You

by TerraYoung



Series: Short Stories from the Waverider [1]
Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, POV Second Person, Pre-Relationship, Ray's POV, this ship needs fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-04
Updated: 2017-04-04
Packaged: 2018-10-14 17:22:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10541064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TerraYoung/pseuds/TerraYoung
Summary: I noticed that you wanted this book so I bought it on a whim and now I have to figure out how to give a book to a stranger auOr one way Ray and Anna could have met





	

**Author's Note:**

> This was written primarily because all of the other Ray/Anna fics are varying degrees of angsty, and most aren't 100% focused on this ship - many moving onto others with Ray/Anna as a point along the way. I thought these two needed more fluff and more focus, so here we are.

You’d just gone to Barnes and Noble to pick up a book Ashley had recommended earlier – your sister knew you’d recently gotten into the Discworld series and said Soul Music was one of the best – and it should have been a quick trip in-and-out. In actuality it’s been about half an hour since you entered the store with no exit time in sight. But it isn’t because you can’t find your book. _That_ only took you about ten minutes.

The other twenty have been because of a woman you ran into while perusing the shelves. Literally. You’d spent a whole minute apologizing to which she’d said there was nothing to apologize _for_ , and tried to move on. But she’s spent all the time since debating whether or not to buy a book and it’s been hard for you to tear yourself away. She picks it up, reads the back cover, and puts it back. Then repeats the process a couple of times. Then she grabs it again, flips through the pages, and puts it back. And then _that_ process repeats itself. She wraps her long hair around her pointer finger, bites her lip, digs around in her purse for her phone, and takes a picture of the book. Then the woman puts her phone away and nods sharply before turning and heading for the exit.

You’re usually not one for impulse decisions. Despite that, you find yourself grabbing the book she was looking at – a special edition of Inkheart – and taking it up to the registers. A few minutes later you’ve bought both her book and yours and are trying to figure out how to give a book to a complete stranger.

You head to the parking lot, possible explanations running through your mind as you search for the woman. You’re so distracted that you somehow manage to run into _another_ person coming the other way. This has got to be some kind of a record.

“Oh my God, I’m so…” you trail off as you realize you just bumped into the very woman you’ve been looking for. Yep. Definitely a new record. “Sorry,” you finally finish. “I _really_ need to look where I’m going, huh?”

The woman laughs. It’s a very nice laugh. “I guess so. It’s totally okay, though. I’m Anna, by the way. Anna Loring.” She holds out her hand to shake, causing you to have to shift the bag containing both books to your left arm in order to reciprocate the gesture.

“I’m Ray Palmer. Ray’s fine. And I promise this isn’t a habit of mine or anything.”

“Good to know,” Anna jokes. She nods to your bag. “Mind if I ask what you got?”

You blink. “Uh, no, not at all. There’s Soul Music, which my sister recommended, and,” you reach in and pull out Inkheart, “This one.”

“Must be a small world – I was thinking of getting that one, too. Didn’t have enough money for a special edition.”

“Yeah, I know – that you were looking at it, I mean. I – uh, um,” you hold out the book while scratching the back of your neck with your free hand, “I kinda got it for you?”

Anna accepts the book wordlessly.

“I hope that wasn’t creepy or stalkerish of me or anything, I just – you looked like you really wanted it. So I got it for you. I can go now, if you –” You drop your hand, gesture vaguely in the direction of your car, and start walking away.

Anna catches your arm before you can take more than a couple steps. “No, it’s sweet. A big gesture from a stranger, but sweet.” She studies you for a moment. “Want to go back in for some coffee? I think I’ve got enough money for a cup.”

You slump with relief and smile. “Sure. Never stopped at a Starbucks before, though.”

“I can help you figure it out.”


End file.
